Читать книгу Her Very Special Boss - Anne Fraser, Anne Fraser - Страница 8

THE rest of the morning passed quickly. Kirsty saw many children with the swollen bellies and stick-like limbs of kwashiorkor, a condition the nurses told her was caused by poor nutrition and lack of vitamins. The nursing staff were fantastic. They worked unstintingly throughout the day, pausing to answer Kirsty’s questions with unfailing good humour and patience. Kirsty felt humbled to be part of their team and full of admiration for their level of expertise. The patients too were remarkably stoic and, despite long waits in the overcrowded department, were universally grateful for everything Kirsty did, however small. Occasionally, to her surprise, she could hear laughter filtering through the walls of the consulting room.

Eventually the clinic quietened down, until all that was left was dressings and vaccinations that the nursing staff on the back shift would finish off.

As Kirsty leaned back in her chair, a wave of exhaustion washed over her. But it felt good. She closed her eyes.

‘Lunch?’ Greg popped his head around the door and as if in answer Kirsty’s stomach growled. Now that he mentioned it, she was starving. The cup of coffee and the watery porridge she had eaten at breakfast-time had made her appreciate why the others ate at home. As soon as she had the opportunity she was going to stock up on provisions, but in the meantime…

‘Lead me to it,’ she said, jumping out of her chair. I hope he doesn’t think I’ve spent the morning snoozing, she thought.

‘Come on, then. I gather you did pretty well this morning. The nurse told me you worked throughout without a break. Well done.’

Kirsty felt herself glow with pleasure. Maybe he wasn’t going to be so difficult to work for after all.

‘I am going out to one of the villages tomorrow to do a clinic, if you’d like to come with me,’ Greg said as they made their way to the staff dining room. Kirsty almost had to run to keep up with his long strides. ‘You’ve seen the bad, now I’d like you to see the good.’

‘I’d love to,’ Kirsty said, ‘but I’d like to check up on the child we saw this morning before lunch, if that’s OK. I don’t mind missing lunch if we’re pushed for time.’

Greg’s eyes swept over her figure. He shook his head. ‘You look as if you could do with a good feeding up yourself, so missing lunch isn’t a good idea. You’ve been working hard and a sick or weakened doctor is no good to anyone. Of course we can take the time to pop into Paediatrics before we eat, but if you are going to survive out here, you’ll need to become less emotionally involved. I find too much emotion can cloud a doctor’s judgement.’

So much for thinking he was going to be easy to work for! It hadn’t taken long for his habitual curtness to resurface. And who was he to tell her when she had to eat? And as for telling her not to become too involved, she had heard those words before. She thought it would be different out here. She thought, if anything, doctors came here to work because they wanted to be involved. But clearly not Dr Greg du Toit. The man had no feelings. He was simply a working machine.

‘I think I’m old enough to look after myself,’ Kirsty said frostily. ‘I don’t mind you commenting on my work, but what I eat and what I feel is up to me, don’t you think?’

Her words stopped Greg in his tracks. He turned to look at Kirsty with glittering blue eyes. Suddenly he smiled.

‘OK, OK.’ He put his hands up in mock surrender. ‘You win. However, no missing meals—is that understood?’

‘Yeah, yeah, and no late nights or alcohol or strange men in my room after midnight. Gotcha.’

Greg’s smile grew broader. ‘God, I do sound like a Victorian father, don’t I? Kathleen was always telling me to lighten up.’ His smile disappeared and Kirsty could see the pain in his eyes. For a moment she was tempted to reach out to offer him comfort. She touched his arm gently, feeling the muscles tense beneath her fingertips.

‘Was Kathleen your wife?’ she asked softly.

He drew back from her touch as if she’d caused him physical pain.

‘Ah, I see people have been talking,’ he said, his lips set in a grim line.

‘Jenny told me what happened. I’m so sorry, Greg. I don’t know how anyone can bear such a loss.’

‘Well, let’s hope you never have to find out,’ he said, rubbing his hand across his scars. ‘Some things are just better not thought about.’

That’s where you are wrong, thought Kirsty, feeling the familiar flicker of pain.

‘You must miss them,’ Kirsty ventured. Inexplicably she felt the need to get closer to this man.

‘As you told me just a few minutes ago, everyone has a right to their privacy. I’ve agreed to respect yours and I’d be grateful if you would respect mine.’ Despite his words, his tone was mild. But Kirsty could see by the set of his jaw that he was holding himself in check.

Nevertheless, Kirsty felt as if she’d been slapped.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said stiffly. ‘I didn’t mean to pry.’

Greg rubbed his scar. ‘No, forgive me,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to have a go at you. I’ve probably been here too long and have forgotten the social niceties. Let’s just forget it.’

He paused next to a path that led away from the hospital towards the perimeter of the compound. ‘If you follow that path for a few minutes, you’ll come to a large concrete reservoir. We use it for swimming. Jamie makes it his business to keep it clean. We often congregate there after work or at weekends.’ He carried on walking. ‘There are four doctors here, as you know—you make the fifth. We take turns at being on call, and we all operate but Sarah is nominally in charge of obstetrics, Jamie paediatrics, Jenny anaesthetises and has responsibility for the medical wards. The surgical wards are mine. There’s a rota for outpatients as that involves a bit of everything.’

‘What will I be doing?’ Kirsty asked

‘You’ll be learning.’ He looked at her intently. ‘At this point you have no idea how quickly you’ll be learning. A couple of weeks and you’ll be expected to manage on your own, although, of course, we will always be available for advice. I’m afraid, Dr Boucher, we can’t carry people here. It’s a case of see one, do one, teach one.’